Over the last 20 years The Historical Novels Review (the society’s print magazine for our members) has published reviews of some 18,000 historical fiction books. Become a member to get exclusive early access to our latest reviews too!
Browse our magazines

Our features are original articles from our print magazines (these will say where they were originally published) or original articles commissioned for this site. If you would like to contribute an article for the magazine and/or site, please contact us.

Our online member directory allows visitors to view members’ profiles, their latest website/blog posts and links to their Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads accounts. It is also where our staff first look for news and features for the site.

Our membership is worldwide, but we still like to meet up - and many members travel thousands of miles to do so. Here you can find out about our conferences and chapter meetings, and can check the important dates for our Awards and magazine.

The War Bride’s Scrapbook: A Novel in Pictures

Preston, author of the acclaimed scrapbook novel The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, delivers again with her second foray into this niche genre, presenting the reader with a charming wartime romance, richly decorated with vintage clippings from her fascinating collection of WWII-era documents. Each page feels like you’re flipping through someone’s living history, an intimate portrayal of a young war bride, living out those anxious years on the home front, with an uncertain future. The novel also chronicles how women’s roles were being redefined as some women transitioned from housewives to finding ways to contribute to the war effort and fill gaps in the workforce vacated by soldiers.

In a clever artistic decision, Preston uses vintage stationery patterns and typewriter fonts to tell the story of Lila Jerome’s sexy whirlwind romance with budding architect Perry Weld, a young army engineer. Magazine advertisements, clippings from period books, postcards, photographs, stamps and more ephemera, illustrate Lila’s journey as she comes into her own as a woman and a wife. This treasure of a book is a quick read, and one you’ll read at least twice: once for the story, and a second time to pore over the added visual element, which takes on its own gravity and presence of the love, loss and hope experienced by wartime families. Preston’s love story is at times funny, occasionally sobering, and absolutely magical.